Donald Trump’s assassination of Qassem Soleimani: illegal, says Russia, helped Isis, says Iran
- The foreign ministers of Russia and Iran have used a conference in New Delhi to criticise America’s strike on the Iranian general
- Moscow’s foreign minister also hits out at America’s ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategy
Russia’s Sergey Lavrov, who has previously labelled the killing an “illegal power move”, slammed the US for not following international law, said Russia proposed a no-aggression pact for the Middle East region and offered support to Iran over “stringent” US sanctions. Meanwhile his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, slammed the US action as “ignorant” and “arrogant” and said it served only to strengthen the terrorist group Islamic State (Isis).
“My Western friends are using these instruments less and less. Instead, they have coined a new concept called ‘rules-based world order’,” he said, adding that Russia’s proposal of a no-aggression pact was aimed at de-escalating tensions.
“We have been suggesting to the Gulf countries that they think about collective security mechanisms, starting with confidence building measures and inviting each other for military exercises,” he added.